


Alone Together

by LastOneOut



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Black Paladin Keith, Essentially My Version of Season 3, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Post Season 2, Red Paladin Allura, Speculation, Spoilers, Team as Family, some canon compliant, time skip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 12:52:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9608378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LastOneOut/pseuds/LastOneOut
Summary: "I don't know where you're going, but do you have room for one more troubled soul?"--It had been a long, exhausting year since the Paladins of Voltron had finally defeated Zarkon and brought a fragile peace to the universe. After the loss of Shiro, the team tries to move on, and the tension brings together Keith and Pidge in ways neither could have imagined.(Fic was written pre-season 3, and thus is now an AU that diverts from curren canon. I have, however, taken current canon into consideration and adjusted several details to be closer to whats actually happening in the show.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this right after season two came out, but its a long fic and I didn't get a chance to finish it before season three hit. But since I felt that season three was kinda anti-climactic, I decided to finish writing this as a way to get my ideas out and to give me something to do until season 4. 
> 
> But hey it's my AU now bitches I can make the rules!

It had been a long and exhausting year since the Paladins of Voltron had finally defeated Zarkon and brought a tentative peace to the universe.

It had also been a year since anyone had seen Takashi Shirogane.

It was hard, at first. They frantically searched every corner of the galaxy, called every old ally, but they came up empty time and time again. Eventually it was agreed that there was nothing to be done. He was gone.

But there was still much to do. Even without Shiro they had a job, and peace was a relative term. While the high command of Galra empire had been quiet, there were still hundreds of planets held under generals and commanders with delusions of grandeur who refused to loosen their hold. Besides, Pidge still had to find her family, and Allura began reaching out and laying the foundation for a more formal alliance between the worlds and rebels who had fought against Zarkon in Voltron’s absence. And all the while they hoped that somehow, somewhere, they would find Shiro.

Keith, despite his strong reservations, had agreed to be their new leader. The new Black Paladin. The whole team had been supportive. Voltron was needed, and Shiro had the right as their leader to chose who would take his place. Even Lance had eventually agreed, uncharacteristically kind as he said “It’s what Shiro wanted.” None of them even mentioned his Galra ancestry. In the end the only one who ever seemed hesitant about his ability to lead, was himself.

“Keith? Keith are you ok there?” Pidge’s voice cut through his thoughts, and he snapped to attention. “Lance and Hunk are in position, should we proceed?”

“Right, you said you found the prisoners?”

She sighed, “Yes, deck three, Hunk and Lance are ready to break them out and Allura and Red are waiting by the escape pods to get them to the castle. Should we proceed?”

“Yes, right, Proceed.” He said over the coms, “Pidge and I will be right behind you.”

“I’m almost done,” She said from her post by the ship's main computer, her glasses glinting in the monitor light.

Keith nodded and turned back to guarding the door, groaning internally. He spaced out again, probably costing the team valuable time, seconds and minutes that could mean the difference between life and death.

The missions they took on had a simple formula, take out the galra command, break the prisoners out, download whatever data they could and get back to the ship. It was simple and it worked, but he still faltered, the weight of his role almost too much to bear. He tried to be quick, decisive, but he second guessed every choice, worried that one wrong move could end in disaster. Most days, even after successful missions, he picked apart his performance, every little detail, and wondered why Shiro ever thought that he could be a leader.

“Alright, that’s everything.” Pidge said, snapping her personal computer closed, “Let’s get out of here.”

He nodded, and they quickly made their way down the glowing purple corridors to where their lions waited.

The flight back to the castle was uneventful, he could hear the team celebrating over the coms, asking Pidge about her data and checking in with Allura and the prisoners. They laughed at something Hunk said, and he resisted the urge to take his helmet off. They needed to be able to contact him, even if their jovial tone made his stomach turn as his mind begin tearing down his moves and decisions. How could they not see that he could have cost them everything?

Back at the castle he lingered with the team long enough to see the prisoners into the healing pods and to confirm that they had warped far away from the outpost. He let the team congratulate him over another mission well done, forcing a smile and returning their sentiments. They needed him to be strong. He noticed Pidge out of the corner of his eye, staring at him oddly, and he wilted slightly under her gaze. He forced a smile and waved at her, but the burning judgement of her inquisitive gaze still lingered after he had turned away.

When at last he excused himself and retreated into the cool darkness of his room he felt the anxiety and disappointment fall over him. He quickly stripped the armour that he would always think of as Shiro’s(Allura assured him that it would fit whoever wore it, but it always felt to big, too wrong, too much like Shiro.) He let the pieces clatter to the ground and pulled on a shirt and loose pants, collapsing onto his bed. He let out a heavy sigh, ignoring the deep achy feeling in his eyes and the pain in his chest.

His mind drifted back to the mission, to his hesitation. Sure, the team hadn’t said anything, but there was exasperation in Pidge’s voice as she re-explained the situation to him, (and her subsequent judgemental stare still lingered in his mind.) He knew they all noticed his failings. It wasn't the first time his mind had wandered during a tense situation. He tried to stay focused, but the thoughts of failure, of ‘what would Shiro do’ and all the doubt clouded his judgement no matter how hard he fought them.

 _‘You’ll never be as good as he was.’_ a quiet, scary voice spoke from somewhere in his mind, and he felt loathing build in his chest, directed only at himself. He couldn’t disagree. It hurt, and he knew Shiro would be disappointed, but he couldn’t drive the feeling away. Often he wanted to pass the role of leader to someone, Allura maybe or Lance, convinced that anyone could do it better. (At the core of it all, he just wanted Shiro back. But that thought was still too dark and broken for him to linger on it.)

Instead he let his mind fade into fuzz and quiet chaos, floating half-awake in the nothingness for a long while.

...But then someone was knocking on his door, and a quiet voice called out, “Hey, Keith? Are you in there?”

He screwed up his eyes, briefly wanting to just ignore whoever it was, but after a moment he stood and walked to his door. He paused for a moment, breathing deeply and gathering himself, before he hit the button and it opened with a hiss.

Pidge stood there in her pajamas(a pastel green and orange thing she had picked up on some market) and was holding a plate of what looked like cookies in one hand and her laptop in the other.

“I just wanted to check on you,” She said, holding up the plate, “and I brought you some food, it’s the last of the pastries the Olkarians gave us.”

“I’m pretty sure Hunk was saving those.” He said, trying to dodge the questioning look in her eyes.

“He’ll live.” She deadpanned, before her face fell. She looked almost embarrassed as she continued, “Besides, you seemed like you needed some company...we don’t have to talk if you don’t want, I’ve got a few movies on my computer.”

He stared at her, and her shy look turned irritated at his silence. “Well? Can I come in?”

“Oh...um, yeah. Sure.” He stepped to the side, letting her in. He flicked on the lights while she sat awkwardly on his bed. He joined her, keeping his gaze averted.

“So what’s it gonna be, talking or a movie?” She asked, and he sighed. He could tell that she really wanted to talk about the mission, but he didn’t think he was up for it. But, she wasn’t prying, clearly giving him another option, and it had been a long time since he had hung out with any of the others...maybe a one-on-one movie night would be nice. Besides, out of all of the Paladins Pidge was the one who best understood what he was feeling. She had lost her whole family, and Shiro was not only her friend and confidant, he was her only link to them.

“...What movies do you have?”

She seemed disappointed for a moment, but she shook it off with a smile and pulled her computer onto her lap, opening it and turning it on. “I’ve got got all of the Star Wars movies, Interstellar, The Martian, and Pacific Rim, you might like that one...”

“Pacific Rim? Don’t think I’ve heard of it.”

She gasped dramatically, ”Really? I cannot believe you pilot a giant robot and you’ve never seen Pacific Rim.”

“What?” He said holding his hands up in defense, “There’s not a lot of time to watch movies when you live in a shack in the desert.”

“That’s fair. Still, this is a problem we need to fix.”

Keith ended up liking the movie a lot. Pidge occasionally chimed in with small comments about scientific inaccuracies or comparisons to Voltron. She even let out gasps of excitement when things got intense, grabbing his arm, her eyes practically shining. He smiled more at her than the movie, and felt some of the stress and pain of the day ease up, the scary voice in his mind uncharacteristically quiet.

They started on the Star Wars movies next, and eventually somewhere between them Pidge rested her head on his shoulder, and in a moment was sound asleep. He tried to pay attention to the movie, but her soft breathing and warm presence was just enough to distract him. He gazed down at her, a warm, melancholy feeling growing in his chest at her peaceful face. Sometimes he forgot that they were all just teenagers, basically children forced to grow up too soon. How long had it been since Pidge, or any of them for that matter, had felt free? Out in space, growing up fighting and saving people. So much weight on their shoulders. When would any of them have the chance to be teens again? Go to school, make friends, fall in love...

He blushed, suddenly very aware of Pidge’s weight against his own. She mumbled something, reaching up and wrapping her arm around his chest, pulling herself closer. Her hair, now shoulder length, tickled his arm. She really was cute.

The reasonable side of him wanted to wake her up and send her on her way. Forget inappropriate, this was falling into much more dangerous territory. Keith had reasons that he didn’t get close to people, every loss taking another part of him leaving only pain and darkness instead. Pidge was sweet, and he could see himself...liking her. But he could just as easily lose her, lose any of them. It wasn’t safe. It wasn’t smart.

But her breathing was light and she smelled nice, and soon his own eyes were drooping. A little nap couldn’t hurt, right? He sighed, yeah, just a little nap. He closed her laptop and set it aside, sliding down lower under the blankets and letting his eyes fall shut. He focusing on her warmth and soft breaths, soon slipping into a deep, restful sleep.

 

* * *

 

Keith didn’t wake until the early morning. He stretched out, wincing at the cramp in his back from an old injury. Pidge was still deep in sleep, her face now smooshed up against his bed, her hair a mess. He suppressed a laugh. She really was cute.

But as he sat up the reasonable side of him was back. He felt the depression curl around in his chest, pushing away any warm feelings and leaving only dull pain. This had been a bad idea. What had he been thinking? Pidge needed to go back to her room, and then they could both forget this ever happened. Keith was a leader, and leaders didn’t do...well, whatever this was.

“Pidge.” He shook her shoulder gently and she groaned, “Come on Pidge, gotta get up.”

“Five...five more min...” She mumbled, and he sighed.

“Pidge, get up.” His voice had a bit more bite to it than he had intended, and he winced internally. She sat up slowly, her eyes tired, but he could see that fire in them again. He turned away.

“Let’s go, I’ll walk you back to your room.”

“Ok, fine.” She said quietly, and he tried to ignore the hurt in her voice.

The walk was awkward to say the least, Pidge shuffling along a few steps behind him, both silent. He felt a new sensation burn in his chest at the situation, something like regret and he suddenly had the crazy notion to turn and pull her into a hug. But that was ridiculous, so he pushed it away. Sure, hanging out with Pidge had been fun, something he hadn’t had in a long time, and sleeping next to her had helped relieve his anxiety. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept that deeply, no nightmares or panic attacks to speak of.

But, again he reminded himself, he was a leader, and none of the team, not even Pidge, needed to see him weak. He had an image to uphold, they needed him to be strong, and attachments...were not a good idea.

When they made it to her room he stopped and gave her a quick look. She seemed contemplative, her eyes still giving him that weird, penetrating look. He needed to get out of here. He mumbled something like a thank you or a sleep well and turned away, prepared to dash down to the training deck and bottle up all of the horrible weird feelings that were coursing through him, but before he could take a step she spoke, her voice clear and accusatory.

“I can feel it, you know.”

“What?” He asked, thrown off by her hard, accusatory tone.

“Your pain. Through the bond. Though Voltron. You try to keep it hidden but I know it’s there. It’s affecting us all. The others don’t know where it’s coming from but I can see it, the weird sadness that falls over us sometimes. It’s you.”

He stared back at her, a sudden pang of rage and fear hitting him. “And?”

She put down her computer and stepped closer to him, her voice rising, “And I don’t understand why you try to keep it to yourself!”

“I...I am the leader I hav-”

“Oh cut that ‘I’m the leader’ crap. We’re your team...we’re your friends. We want to help. It’s hard all around, you know. We all miss Shiro,” He flinched at the name, but she continued regardless, “and I know you were close and that you’re stressed ‘cuz of it, but you can’t keep hiding your feelings and keeping secrets. I know that better than anyone. It just ends up hurting people.”

“What do you want me to say Pidge?” He countered, the rage and hopelessness he was feeling making him reckless, “That I’m scared? That I’m constantly worried that I’m going to screw up and someone’s going to get hurt?”

“Yes, if it helps!”

He threw his arms in the air, “Well I am! But it’s not like I can let it show, now can I? Would Shiro? No, because a leader isn’t weak. You all need me to be strong, you all need me to lead and keep you safe and make the right choices, that’s what Shiro did!”

“You’re not Shiro! You will _never_ be Shiro, ok?” She shouted back, and he instantly tensed. He took a step back, the anger and adrenaline mixing with fear and loathing, pushing his pulse through the roof. She froze, her face falling into hard realization as he stepped further back from her, but he didn’t notice, trying hard to relax, to breathe, to see past the thoughts overtaking his mind. _‘You’re not Shiro, you’ll never be Shiro you’ll never be good enough you’ll never be a lea-’_

He felt hands, small but strong on his shoulders. Pidge was in front of him, her gaze cutting through the panic. She looked scared and regretful, but she still spoke, her voice level.

“Keith, listen to me.” Her hands kept him close, kept him focused, and he nodded.

“Yes, you will never be Shiro, but that is _not_ a bad thing. You have to stop holding yourself to these ridiculous standards. You’re Keith, not Shiro, you’ve got to do things your way.”

She gave him a small smile, and his breathing started to calm, his muscles relaxing, “We all screw up sometimes Keith, it’s ok.”

“But...but what if...”

“We get hurt?” He nodded again, “That won’t happen. We’ve got brains, stupid. We can fight and stay safe.”

“Look...I know it’s not easy,” She continued, “But please, just believe that we are here for you. Stop keeping all of this to yourself. We...We are all we’ve got out here, and that’s scary...but we’re a family. We aren’t gonna let you face this alone. I won’t let you face it alone.”

She stepped back finally, and he tried not to miss the soft, grounding pressure of her hands. He took one last deep breath, surprised at how her words had calmed his mind. He felt a swift relief, and wanted to laugh for some reason, but he held it back.

“So the next time this gets bad, come find one of us.” She said, “I’m always up for another movie night.”

He smiled, “Ok.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Alright, good.” She crossed her arms, stifling a yawn. “Are you gonna be ok for right now? And don't lie.”

“I think so, yeah...” He said, shocked at the sureness in his voice. He had used that as a quick lie before, but suddenly it felt true. “You should probably try to get some more sleep, Pidge.” he added.

She blinked tiredly in agreement, and turned away, before pausing. She looked up at him, her face colored with an odd blush, her eyes unsure.

“What?” He asked, nervous.

“Katie. My real name...you can call me that, if you want.”

He felt a blush grow on his own face, as if she had trusted him with some great secret, not just her name.

“Ok...Katie.” It suited her, he thought, small and sweet, with a bit of a bite. He blushed harder.

An awkward silence grew between them, neither sure what to say, so Pidge broke it, clearing her throat.

“Ok then. I’m gonna...go back to bed.” She gestured at her door.

“Sounds good.” He said quickly, nodding.

“Right. See you around.”

“Right.”

 

* * *

 

Her words didn’t leave him, even days later, new missions planned and prisoners freed, they still lingered in his mind.

“I have to do things my way.” he said to himself during a solo training session, trying the words out. It was something he hadn’t really thought of before. Shiro had been a great leader, and Keith had only thought to try to do what he did. But now he felt himself considering past situations in a new light. What would he do?

Sometimes the answer was good, decisive and straightforward...other times, not so much. He knew he had a tendency to dive in without thinking, hot headed and ready for a fight. Thinking felt...unnatural to him. But Shiro’s words still rang true in his head, patience yields focus, and he noticed that when he paused to think, asking ‘What would Keith do’ yielded significantly more focus than, ‘What would Shiro do’.

The training bot swung at him and he dodged the attack, rolling and coming up behind it. He slashed, and his sword hit its mark, knocking the bot off balance and providing him the perfect opening to end the fight.

He stuck the final blow and the bot powered down. Keith felt his bayard revert forms and de-materialize. That was enough training for one day. He walked over to the wall, where a bench held his water and a fresh towel.

He drank the cool water and dried off, his mind wandering again. It was still early, and there were a few days before their next planned attack. Keith had never been a fan of free time, back on earth he filled it with planning and training and gathering supplies. The others of course, disagreed, and when they were done fixing up their gear and preparing they were more than happy to relax, bathe and talk and nap. It was weird to him.

But Pidge...she had said that he could come hang out with her. Of course, she had actually said ‘if things get bad’ and he was feeling pretty ok...but maybe...

Before he knew it he was leaving the training deck and making his way to Green’s hanger. He would just stop by, see how she was doing, maybe chat for a bit. No harm in that. It was team building. Yeah, just team building.

He found her at her workbench, slumped down in her chair, her eyes reading over line after line of galra text. She was busy. That was fine, he thought, ignoring the slight disappointment in his chest. It wasn’t like he really needed to hang out or anything. He’d just...wanted to, that’s all.

 _‘I’ll just say hi real fast’_ , he thought, stepping into the room, but he stopped when he got a good look at her face. She seemed troubled, her features scrunched up, and her eyes...they looked glassy, almost wet. Was she crying? He walked closer, his reservations falling away. Pidge had helped when he was feeling down, the least he could do was return the favor.

“Hey...” He paused. She had told him to call her Katie, but it still felt too private, too personal. “Hey, Pidge.” He called instead, and she sat up. He pretended he didn’t see how she blushed and wiped at her eyes before she turned to look at him.

“Oh, Keith, what’s up?” She asked.

“Nothing much. I just wanted to say hi...and see if you maybe wanted to hang out. Or something. You know?”  
  
She grinned at his awkward tone. “What did you have in mind?”

He faltered, having not thought that far. What was there to do on a giant castle-ship? It was cool, sure, but pretty barren. It was built to house hundreds of people, not six. He looked down at her again, faltering again at her knowing grin.

“Um, how about we...uh...” He shrugged, gesturing helplessly at her workbench, “...You could show me one of your projects?”

Her eyes lit up, but when she turned back to her computer she deflated, and slowly closed the laptop. “Maybe some other time, yeah? Hey!” She perked up again and lowered her voice conspiratorially, “I heard there was a pool on the ship, right? We could check that out. I haven’t been swimming in ages.”

Keith shivered, thinking back to being stranded in the elevator with Lance, having to climb up the tube and hope that he didn’t die a dumb, painful death next to the most insufferable person on their team. If that never happened again it would be too soon. But Pidge was good with tech stuff...and he could think of worse people to be stuck in an enclosed space with.

“Do you know how to hot-wire an elevator?”

“Yeah...but why would that matter?” She asked, giving him an odd look.

“No reason.” He said, “But yeah, there’s a pool. I’d be up for a swim.”

“Sounds good, meet you there in ten?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

 

* * *

 

 

Keith made it there before Pidge did, standing awkwardly in the humid air, suddenly feeling slightly self-conscious. He had been shirtless in front of the team more than a few times, but suddenly he found himself eying his chest in the shiny glass windows, wondering vacantly if he looked alright.

“This is stupid.” He mumbled, turning away from his reflection. He looked just like he always did, completely fine. Muscles, arms, skin in all the right places. And even if something was wrong it’s not like he could do anything about it now. Everything was just fine. Just. Fine.

At last Pidge arrived, dashing in clutching a towel and apologizing for being late. “Sorry, it took me forever to get changed and then I got lost and ran into Allura and she tried to get me into this skimpy swim outfit and shaking her was a whole thing on it own...”

“Not a problem, Pidge.” He said with a smile. He noted that she looked rather adorable in her swim trunks(the same ones all the paladins had, just in green) and a t-shirt, and tried to push the thought of whatever odd outfit Allura had wanted her to wear out of his head.

“Wow,” She said, whistling as she took in the large room, “This is way better than the pool on the base.” Keith agreed. The room was quite elegant, clearly showcasing the Altean’s passion for grandiose interior design.

“Well let’s get this party started!” She pulled off her glasses and tossed them to the side with her towel, running to the water and jumping in with a huge splash. After a moment she surfaced with a gasp, shaking the water out of her eyes and shivering. Apparently Alteans didn’t believe in pool heaters.

“Come on, w-what are you waiting for? The water’s great!” She shivered again, “Really....refreshing.”

He turned away, silently walking back towards the far wall, and Pidge scoffed.

“What, a-are you t-too chicken?”

“You wish,” He said with a smirk, before taking a running start and jumping in. Pidge laughed as his wave overtook her and sent her spiraling a few feet away.

When he came up she grinned at him, “That was awesome!” she shouted, and he was suddenly struck by how, well, beautiful she looked. Water droplets flying everywhere, hair messy, skin glowing in the muted light, and that huge, wonderful grin on her face. Somewhere, something inside of him decided that he would do anything to protect that smile, and his face took on a rosy blush.

She swam towards the edge of the pool, hoisting herself up and eyeing him, “But...I bet I can do better.”

“Is that a challenge?” He asked.

“Oh, you bet it is.”

They took turns cannonballing into the water, both laughing and judging each other's splashes. After he gave her a pitiful five out of ten she decided to tackle him, and they splashed and playfully shoved each other ‘till they both could hardly breathe from all the laughing.

“Hey!” They both jumped and turned to see Lance standing at the door, Hunk following not far behind. “They stole our idea!”

“Finders keepers,” Pidge said with a shrug, “What are you gonna do about it?”

Lance grinned, throwing his towel off and stalking into the water. “Chicken, right now, me and Hunk against you and Keith. Winner gets the pool.”

“Best two out of three?” She asked and he nodded.

“What’s chicken?” Keith asked quietly as Lance occupied himself with getting Hunk into the chilly water.

“You’ve never played chicken?” She asked, and he gave her a look.

“Shack. In the desert. Remember? Not a whole lot of water.”

“Ok, it’s really simple.” She explained, “You have two teams, and the smaller one gets on the shoulders of the bigger one and tries to push the opposite team over.”

“I think we might have a slight disadvantage.” He deadpanned, looking at Hunk, who despite shivering and complaining waist deep in the pool and still looked solid and sturdy.

“Oh don’t worry about him, he’s ticklish.”

“If you say so.”

“Alright you pansies, let’s get this started!” Lance shouted, a cocky smile on his face, and Keith couldn’t help but get excited. Lance was like that, it was hard not to mirror his enthusiasm.

“I hope you’re ready to get your asses handed to you!” Pidge shouted back. Keith moved to pick her up but hesitated, blushing again. She gave him another odd look and he quickly shook the feeling off and leaned down so that she could climb onto his shoulders.

In the end, Hunk’s ticklishness was his team’s downfall, and in no time at all Pidge and Keith had knocked them off balance three times, laughing as the pair surfaced, sputtering and shivering.

“Ok, t-that one wasn’t fair!” Lance shouted, flipping his sopping hair out of his face.

“No tickling, Pidge, sheesh.” Hunk added, holding his hands under his arms.

“All’s fair in love and war, guys. You’re just mad cause you lost.” Pidge replied, giving Keith a congratulatory fist bump.

“But,” She continued, still perched on Keith’s shoulders, “I suppose we could be persuaded to share the pool. What d’you say Keith, should we let them stay?”

“Hmmm...” He feigned consideration, “Well, as the leader of Voltron...my vote is, yes. They can stay.”

“Like we needed your permission...” Lance mumbled, “Ok, new challenge. Keith, I bet I can hold my breath longer than you!”

Keith smirked, ready to accept, but Pidge wiggled off of him and pointed at Lance. “I’m getting in on this because I know for a fact that I can hold my breath longer than both of you.”

“No way. Water is my element, after all.”

“That’s a lot of talk Lance." Keith interjected.

"Yeah, why don’t you put some proof behind those words before I make you eat ‘em.” Pidge added.

It turned out that Pidge could not, in fact, hold her breath longer than Lance. But, never the type to back down from a fight, she demanded a re-match, and after she lost again she and Lance took turns coming up with wild and slightly dangerous contests. Keith happily played along, gloating when he won and laughing when he didn't. Eventually Hunk joined in, and ended up schooling the three of them more than a few times.

When at last they decided to retire, poking fun at each other's messy hair and prune-y fingers, and laughing at some bad joke Lance had come up with, Keith couldn't help the warm feeling in his chest from growing. And it wasn't until he was showered and warm in his bed that he realised that they had had fun, together as a team, for the first time in ages. Even without Shiro they could be friends, be together...be happy. It was a weird, wonderful, scary thought, but for once Keith fell asleep, not sad and empty, but happy and feeling like things would actually be ok.


End file.
